PRACTICAL ACTION The Rojgari Answer

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Practical Action, with financial support from the European Union and in partnership with merojob.com, recently launched ‘Rojgari’, a web portal (www.rojgari.com) amidst a ceremony. The web portal under the ROJGARI project of the EU is aimed at decreasing the unemployment rate in the country by helping people search jobs matching their skills in Nepal and abroad.

The portal is similar to other existing job sites in which both the job seekers and employers can create their accounts highlighting necessary details and requirements. It is a free service and is a labor market information system which is mainly targeted for the poor and the people in need.

“The web portal is immensely useful to both job seekers and employers as it will both parties to connect, know each other and share information that promotes transparency, healthy competition and information sharing,” said Achyut Luitel, Country Director, Practical Action.

According to the portal developers, Rojgari aims to address a diverse workforce, especially people with vocational and technical training certificates and entry level experiences. It brings them together under a single hub and helps organizations that are in need of workers and employees. The employers can contact the people they like directly and save time as well as cost.

The portal aims to help not only local employers but also foreign employers who want employees making effective use of online sites.

“Rojgari.com is an answer to the need of people who are skilled but have problems finding jobs. The main challenge is linking jobs to correct people. It will also help employers find the right persons at the right time. I hope it will help decrease unemployment rate in Nepal,” said Shailendra Raj Giri, Managing Director at meroJob.com.

As the portal is targeted at the people who are poor and people at the rural places, various plans have been made to reach the concerned people, said an employee at Practical Action. However, it is not restricted only to them. The city people can also make use of the portal.

“According to data released by research companies, some 4 and a half lakh people enter markets every month seeking jobs but only 50,000 jobs are created. There are some gaps in the employment process between the employers and unemployed people,” said Dr. Man Bahadur Biswokarma, Director General at the Department of Labor, who launched the web portal. “Two-thirds of the people have to go abroad for employment,” he added.

Unemployment has been a major hindrance in the economic growth of the nation. People having skills and willingness to work have also been deprived of work due to lack of contacts and effective job opportunities, especially in the rural areas. Employers have also been facing difficulties in finding skilled people. Hence, Rojgari web portal might act as the bridge and help ease the nation’s employment problem for the good.